The scarcity of funding opportunities for humanities students is a well-known fact to medievalists. University and government funds are the primary starting points to finding support for graduate programs. However, some specialist societies offer medievalists a number of research grants, travel awards and other prizes to help defray the costs of scholarship.
Research Grants and Fellowships
The Medieval Academy of America, The Richard III Society and The Wellcome Trust (UK) offer a limited number of awards for doctoral students working in all areas of medieval research.
- Birgit Baldwin Fellowship. This fellowship is a grant of $20,000 to support a doctoral student in a North American university who is researching any area of French medieval history. The grant specifically enables the student to conduct extensive research in France.
- Medieval Academy Dissertation Grants. Seven dissertation grants of $2,000 are awarded to doctoral students researching any aspect of medieval studies. The grants are intended to cover the cost of research expenses.
- CARA Tuition Scholarships. Full tuition scholarships are given to four students to attend the Latin summer programs offered at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Toronto.
- Richard III Society Shallek Dissertation Grant. The society provides a one-year grant of $30,000 to a doctoral student writing a dissertation pertaining to medieval Britain.
- The Wellcome Trust Doctoral Studentships. The trust provides a stipend to cover three years of graduate fees for a student researching a history of medicine topic at a university in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.
Travel Awards
Travel awards are small grants intended to cover the cost of conference attendance or to enable research in libraries, universities or museums that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive.
- Medieval Academy Travel Grants. Travel grants of $500 are given to scholars to present their work at conferences in North America or $750 for travel outside of North America.
- Summer Institutes in Vernacular Paleography. A grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation enables a graduate student to attend intensive seminars on paleography hosted by the Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies, the Getty Research Institute, the Huntington Library and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
Prizes
Prizes are awarded for research and to first-time authors of articles or books which significantly contribute to medieval scholarship.
- John Leyerle-CARA Prize. This annual grant of $1,000 enables a doctoral student to consult materials in the University of Toronto's Robarts Library, the collections of the Dictionary of Old English, the Records of Early English Drama projects and the library of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
- John Nicholas Brown Prize. The Medieval Academy awards $1,000 annually for a first book or monograph by a North American medievalist.
- Van Courtlandt Elliott Prize. $500 is awarded annually to a North American author for a first article in the field of medieval studies.
- Jerry Stannard Memorial Award. The Department of History at the University of Kansas awards $1,000 annually to the author of an article on the history of medicine, medicinal botany, pharmacy or medical folklore.
References
Erin Connelly - Since 2003 Erin Connelly has been a writer for university, government and nonprofit publications. She has edited submissions for "Nature," ...
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